Born in 1931, Kunwar Narendra Singh was educated at Welham Boys' School, the Royal Indian Military College and St Joseph's Academy in Dehradun. Camping and hunting in the Kumaon foothills, a traditional pastime of his family, became a hobby and obsession. Before his death in 2007, he narrated the stories of his hunting to his son-in-law, Prakash Singh, who is the chronicler of this book.